1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally drawn to automotive vehicle headlamp aiming adjusters and more particularly to attachment nuts for coupling right angle headlamp-adjusting assemblies to reflector housings of a headlamp assembly to allow for ease of adjustment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicle headlamps require horizontal and vertical adjustment to meet government headlamp aiming regulations. The headlamp assembly is mounted to a fixed portion or panel of the vehicle. A reflector housing is part of the headlamp assembly and may be formed to adjust both vertically and horizontally either separately from or integrally with the headlamp assembly. The top end of the reflector housing has a boss formed as a tubular section and is used to mount a vertical adjuster which typically contacts the reflector housing along the reflector housing top end to be vertically aligned with a fixed pivotal point. Generic adjuster assemblies do not easily fit this boss and thus need a transition or coupling nut between the boss and the adjuster assembly to provide easy adjustment by the adjustment assembly relative to the boss.
To make vertical adjustments, the vertical adjuster shaft of the adjusting assembly is rotated in or out, causing a movement of a horizontal member of the adjuster assembly to move in or out. This horizontal member pushes on the boss making the reflector housing to tilt up or down. If the reflector housing is formed integrally with the headlamp assembly, then the entire headlamp assembly will tilt up or down along with the reflector housing.
To minimize space requirements the generic adjuster assemblies locate the vertical input shaft in a region vertically upward from the headlamp assembly reflector housing where it may be more conveniently reached. This mounting allows compact packaging designs in the vehicle which would not be allowed by hand access immediately rearward of the adjuster assembly.
Such adjuster assemblies are well known and may be found in prior art patents to which the reader is referred for a more detailed explanation of its operation. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,415 to Schmitt et al. teaches an adjustable reflector assembly wherein the lateral drive shaft or the gearbox assembly is attached to the reflector by way of coupling nut. However, the nut while having a ball end coupling of the gearbox thereto provides no teaching of a pair of inclined plane openings formed in the nut to snap in a pair of boss members formed in a tubular reflector housing itself to capture the reflector housing to the nut and gearbox. Also, there is no teaching of any adjustment or orientation ribs formed on the nut as per the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,602 to Young et al. teaches another adjustable reflector assembly wherein the gearbox lateral drive shaft end is mounted directly to the reflector to provide adjustment thereto. Again, however, there is no teaching of the nut coupling of the present invention let alone the adjustability features inherent therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,905 teaches an adjustable headlamp assembly wherein the ball end of a lateral drive shaft extending from a gearbox assembly is directly coupled to a headlamp assembly to adjust the assembly. Again, there is no teaching of the nut coupling of the present invention let alone the adjustable features inherent therein.
It is thus seen that the prior art failed to provide an attachment for coupling a known adjuster assembly to a boss found on a headlamp reflector housing which could be easily and adjustably snapped on the boss for easy reflector housing positioning. As was mentioned, if the reflector housing is manufactured to be integral with the headlamp assembly, then the entire headlamp assembly is positioned along with the reflector housing.
The present invention solves the problems associated with prior art devices as well as other by providing an improved automotive headlight reflector adjustment assembly. The assembly includes a unique snap on adjustment or coupling nut which couples with a tubular boss or protrusion formed as a part of the reflector in one corner thereof. The tubular protrusion has a pair of oppositely located members formed on the outside surface of the protrusion which ride along a pair of flexible inclined plane openings formed in the tubular opening on one end of the coupling nut to snap into a depression formed at the end of the inclined plane openings to positively retain the nut on the tubular protrusion of the headlamp reflector. The oppositely located members need not be directly opposite each other (180 degrees apart). In the present application, these members are 165 degrees apart due to tooling constraints.
The other end of the coupling nut has a ball shaped opening to retain a ball shaped end of a horizontally moving shaft of a known right angle adjustment assembly to provide adjustment of the reflector when the vertical input drive of the adjuster is rotated to move the horizontal shaft against the boss.
The coupling nut also has a pair of ribs extending vertically along the outside surface thereof to provide a positive non-slip grasp of the nut while it is being mounted to the tubular protrusion of the reflector housing. A pair of end located horizontal ribs are also provided for an alternate grasping location. Also, a horizontally located rib is formed along the circumference of the nut parallel with the end located rib to thus provide a two point orientation of the nut with the reflector housing to insure the mount of the nut and gearbox assembly to the reflector with the driving vertical end of the gearbox being perpendicular to the reflector insuring accessible mounting of the adjustment assembly when the headlamp assembly is mounted to the vehicle.
In view of the foregoing it will be seen that one aspect of the present invention is to provide a coupling nut between a boss formed on a headlamp reflector assembly and a known adjuster assembly for adjusting the aim of the reflector assembly.
Another aspect is to provide an easily snapped on coupling nut between a boss on a headlamp reflector assembly and a known adjuster assembly.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide easily grasped members on the coupling nut to allow the nut to be rotatably snapped on to the reflector assembly.
Still yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide alignment means on the nut to insure proper orientation of the vertical input shaft of the adjustment assembly to the reflector assembly.